Be Kind: Cherry Healy and The Eve Appeal at Oliver Bonas

As part of their 25th anniversary celebrations, Oliver Bonas have been hosting a series of events and talks at their London stores exploring the core values of the brand. I attended the third and final talk in the series last night at their Tottenham Court Road store, all about being kind. And what a wonderfully inspiring talk it was too.

Sylk team member Nicola with Athena Lamnisos and Karen Hobbs from The Eve Appeal, and Cherry Healy who hosted the evening

Gynae Cancer Awareness

Hosted by Cherry Healy, last night’s talk was all in aid of The Eve Appeal, our partner charity, who raise awareness and funds of the five gynaecological cancers. Eve’s key message is to ‘know your body’ so you can catch the signs of gynae cancers early. And really, that does start with being kind- to yourself! Listening to Cherry talk about this last night really resonated with me. At Sylk, we think it’s so important to get to know your body, particularly in relation to your intimate health.

Out of touch

Before she got on board as an Eve Appeal ambassador, Cherry described being really out of touch with her body, and by extension her sexuality, which in part stemmed from a lack of knowledge and understanding of her own anatomy. What do you call your reproductive area? Are you embarrassed to use the word ‘vagina’? What about ‘vulva’? Cherry was. And she wasn’t even sure what the difference between the two parts was either.

It’s just so embarrassing

A lot of our self criticism stems from embarrassment, particularly when it comes to our vaginas. Do I look normal? What if I smell? Do my bits look ugly? Worries like this can be hugely damaging to our health and wellbeing, and have been known to prevent women from seeking help when they notice something wrong. On top of this, an inability to name the parts correctly can further cloud the waters when we do eventually seek help.

Be Kind to Yourself

Getting used to calling it what it is, is, I think, how we start being kind to ourselves. The more normal it is, the less embarrassing it becomes. I mean, why should we be embarrassed by our bodies? They do some pretty incredible things, especially the vagina. And the best part is that each one is unique in its own way. There is no single ‘normal’ look, but it is important to know what’s normal for you.

So make a pledge to yourself today. Indulge in the best kind of self-care there is, by getting to know your body, understand what’s normal for you, and tackle any issues that come up straight away. Even if it’s just a bit of vaginal dryness, if we’re on top of it early, any intervention whether it’s HRT or introducing an intimate moisturiser like Sylk to your routine will be much more effective in the long run, and save a lot of misery and hardship. And this is doubly true of gynae cancers. Catching the signs early can mean a vastly improved outcome.

Kindness is catching- I’m excited to see what happens when we all start being kinder to ourselves.